Three airlines and a pilots' association have appealed a ruling on airport charges by the aviation regulator, Mr Bill Prasifka. Aer Lingus, BMI British Midland and Ryanair are understood to have written to the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, outlining their objections to Mr Prasifka's determination.
The regulator's ruling in August has already been opposed in the High Court by Aer Rianta, which claims it was flabbergasted by the regulator's rejection of its £1 billion capital programme.
An association of pilots not affiliated to the commercial airlines has also lodged an appeal. It will be heard by a three-man panel appointed last Monday by Ms O'Rourke. The panel is chaired by a barrister, Mr Rory Brady SC. Its other members are Mr Declan Dineen, a University of Limerick economics specialist, and Mr Rodney Fewing, of Cranfield College of Aeronautics in Cranfield University.
The panel is understood to have met for the first time on Tuesday. Its consideration must be completed within two months. The law establishing Mr Prasifka's office gives the panel the option of confirming the determination or referring it back to his office. The regulator would have one month to confirm or amend his decision in that case.
The determination, which reduced landing fees in Dublin and allowed increases in Cork and Shannon in anticipation of reductions next year, will stand while the appeals are being heard.
Aer Lingus, which is seeking more than 2,000 redundancies in a crisis prompted by the attacks on the US on September 11th, welcomed the broad thrust of the determination. However, the State-owned carrier is understood to have expressed a number of concerns about "specific aspects" of the determination.
It appealed the company-wide and per-passenger revenues allowed to Aer Rianta and highlighted what it said were apparent discrepancies in the projections of passenger numbers outlined by the State airports company and by Mr Prasifka.
Aer Lingus also objected to an incentive scheme recently introduced by Aer Rianta. It had concerns that fees paid by existing operators on existing routes might subsidise new operators on the routes. Ryanair, which criticised the determination when it was published, is understood to have lodged a broad-ranging appeal. It said the determination did not go far enough to ensure greater efficiency at Aer Rianta's three airports and identified "several areas" where it believed further reductions in airport landing tariffs were justified. A BMI British Midland spokesman declined to comment.
The Supreme Court has ordered Aer Rianta to return £433,000 with interest to Ryanair pending a new High Court hearing of a claim by the State company against the carrier. The damages were awarded against Ryanair in a summary judgment after Aer Rianta sued the carrier in a dispute over landing fees on its service to Paris-Beauvais and Brussels-Charleroi from Dublin.
